The past week saw Australia’s best short course swimmers converge on Melbourne for the 2019 Hancock Prospecting Short Course Championships.
Western Australia produced its most successful National Short Course Championships in the last 10 years claiming five gold, three silver and seven bronze medals throughout the Meet.
One of the major highlights of the event was Zac Incerti (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS) who was in fine form after a long run with injuries. Incerti claimed the National Title in the Men's 100m Freestyle touching first in 48.23, just ahead of his teammate Ashton Brinkworth (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS) who won Bronze in a time of 48.92.
Brinkworth, who was also in stellar form, stormed home to win Gold in the Men's 50m Freestyle in a time of 21.93. This is Brinkworth's first National Title and came with a Personal Best time and his second-ever sub-22-second performance.
Brinkworth and Incerti were joined by Alex Milligan (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS) and Grant Irvine (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Palfery, WAIS) in the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay. The team was dominant throughout the race, winning by two seconds in a time of 3:34.88, just behind the State Record.
In the Men's 800m Freestyle, Ben Roberts (Breakers, c: Bud McAllister, WAIS) showed the Western Australian men are dominant in the distance as well as the sprints. Roberts, who has continued to go from strength to strength, was a class above the rest. Roberts swam a smart race, conserving energy through the first 400m and dominating the second half of the race, winning by almost two seconds in a time of 7:51.95. In the process, Roberts once again broke the State Record and put his name at the forefront of Australia's next generation of distance superstars, which looks to be a very exciting class of swimmers through the likes of Joshua Parrish (TSS Aquatic), Thomas Hauck (All Saints Gold Coast), and Sam Short (Albany Creek).
It wasn't just the WA men getting the job done in Melbourne, Katherine Downie (Perth City, c: Yuriy Vdovychenko, AIS) also had a stellar Meet. Downie, who recently moved to Canberra to train out of the AIS, is back in fine form as she gets ready for Tokyo 2020. Downie swam a huge programme, highlighted by her performance in the Women's 12 & Over 100m Backstroke where she won Gold in a time of 1:11.73.
Another swimmer who had a stellar meet was Kieren Pollard (North Coast, c: Ian Mills) who won medals in the Men's 200m and 400m Individual Medley, confirming his place as one of Australia's most versatile young athletes and one to watch in the lead up to Tokyo 2020 and beyond.
Additionally, many WA swimmers produced breakthrough swims, in particular, Jackson Govers (St Hilda's, c: Deb Jones) who won his first National Open Medal in the Men's 200m Freestyle. Adam Sudlow also had an incredible Meet (UWA-West Coast, c: Michael Shaw) as he was prominently featured in the Men's distance Freestyle event, including winning his first National Open Medal in the Men's 1500m Freestyle.
All in all, the 2019 Hancock Prospecting Short Course Championships was an incredibly successful meet for Western Australia, which saw some athletes return to form and others breakthrough as the ones to watch. With Tokyo 2020 only 270 days away, you can't help but feel excited about what is yet to unravel!
The swimmers who qualified for finals are listed in the PDF:
